Christmas giving

I don’t normally do this sort of promotional blog post, but I was looking for a charity to make a Christmas donation to and wanted to share this one with anyone else who was thinking of doing the same thing.

I wanted to find a small-scale organisation to donate too, someone who perhaps doesn’t have the fundraising clout that some larger organisations do. I’ve settled on the Mashi Foundation this year. In their own words:

The Mashi Foundation is a UK registered charity that works with children living in poverty in Ecuador.

We work in partnership with local people to enable children to access health care and education. Mashi helps children who would normally not have the opportunity to receive the health care they need. We support them and their families to receive basic treatment they cannot afford to pay for themselves. This includes medication, vaccinations, tests and examinations and help with ongoing needs such as vitamins, supplements, therapeutic input and access to wider services. Mashi works with parents to ensure the best outcome possible for the children. We focus on the physical, emotional, psychological and social well-being of children and young people.

Mashi is also able to assist children to access educational provision. Through a sponsor parent programme, we are able to send a number of children to school. These are children who are living in poor economic situations and would otherwise be working. Deprivation and poverty are barriers to them accessing education but with the support of sponsors, they are able to attend school, offering them the chance to learn and achieve. This is beneficial for the children and their families and will give them a chance in the future to change their lifestyle and open up a world of opportunities.

Mashi has started working in a rural area of Ecuador and offers a nursery provision to the families living in this area. The children of these families would otherwise be forced to work in the fields with their parents. This provision allows them to be in a safe environment, having 3 meals a day, with opportunities to play and learn in a secure and positive environment. Working closely with people of the community allows us to best meet their needs. In consultation, we are able to involve them in decision- making and the day to day running of the nursery.

Mashi is completely reliant upon donations and sponsors and all those that are involved with Mashi give their time voluntarily.

Full disclosure: I came across the Mashi Foundation because my twin sister met the founder when she was travelling in South America earlier this year. I am partly writing this blog post now because I promised my sister I’d help spread the word. Here’s what she originally sent me about the charity:

hiya guys!! Im spreading the word, cos i met this absolute angel of a girl who has set up a charity over here… let me tell you the story. basically she has been coming over for 5 years and single handedly set up a charity to help these communitys in equador, the one she told me about which tore my heart was a community who work the fields and because of lack of facilities have to take their 1-2 year old children with them. the community built a building for a nursery and the government agreed to help and give money but then retracted it along with all equipment, water and help they had provided because there was only 20 children there. so the toddlers had to return to the fields for long days with their parents, not living a proper childhood. this girl is working really hard ( a full time social worker in england) and has finally got a official charity set up. im gonna try and visit with her in the next few days, but she really badly needs funding to help. i know everyones financial situation is different, but if you could check out the website and if you cant help then give the web address to others etc and just promote it a bit for her?

So, well, that’s what I’m doing. I’ve made a donation to the Foundation, and I hope that if anyone else reading this is looking for a worthwhile cause to support they might consider doing the same.